Sustainable Investment - Time for everyone to translate thinking into action

Sustainable investment has gathered significant momentum in recent years, and while the reasons for it are well-rehearsed, importantly they show no signs of slowing up. Regulatory pressure, reputational risks and opportunities, and evidence of improved risk-adjusted returns come together with significant public awareness and media mainstreaming to power sustainable investment up many asset owners’ agendas. Indeed a lot of investors have already started to make significant progress in this area. It is no longer the early adopters who are in the minority, instead it is those who are yet to act.

Sustainable investing is about long-term, finance-driven strategies – not to be confused with ethical investing. It is central to successful long-term investment outcomes and should be a key part of all asset owners’ investment approaches.

In this paper we:

• Provide an overview of the pressures asset owners are facing to consider sustainable investment
• Share how Willis Towers Watson has made sustainable investment central to our investment process and solutions
• List immediate, practical actions asset owners of all sizes should take to embed sustainable investment in their approach